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Restaurants switch pork, egg suppliers on the basis of animal welfare

Posted April 15, 2007

A fast-food chain and a fine-dining group—Burger King and Wolfgang Puck—will begin to buy more pork and eggs from suppliers that don't keep pigs in stalls or hens in cages.

Burger King plans to start purchasing 10 percent of its pork from suppliers that don't keep pigs in stalls and 2 percent of its eggs from suppliers that don't keep hens in cages—and to double those percentages by the end of the year.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States have been pressuring the fast-food chain for years to expand policies on animal welfare.

Burger King sent a letter to PETA outlining the new plans, and PETA forwarded the letter to the Associated Press. Burger King later confirmed the authenticity of the letter to AP.

Burger King also will issue a statement that it will give purchasing preference to poultry suppliers that use "controlled-atmosphere killing."

Before the news from the fast-food chain, chef Wolfgang Puck and his companies announced a new program on animal welfare in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States and with advice from the animal rights organization Farm Sanctuary.

Within the next few months, the company will purchase pork and eggs only from suppliers that don't keep pigs in stalls or hens in battery cages.

Wolfgang Puck also will use veal from suppliers that don't keep calves in crates, buy sustainable seafood, eliminate foie gras from menus, serve chicken and turkey meat from farms that follow certain policies on animal welfare, expand vegetarian selections on menus, and send a letter to suppliers about alternative methods of poultry slaughter.